Some insurers giving fire victims wrong information, official says

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has directed the California Department of Insurance to issue a formal notice to insurers and licensed public adjusters to make sure all claims adjusters assigned to wildfire claims are properly trained on the California Unfair Practices Act and the Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations. less

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has directed the California Department of Insurance to issue a formal notice to insurers and licensed public adjusters to make sure all claims adjusters assigned to ... more

Photo: Pete Kiehart, The Chronicle

Image 2 of 2

Gabriel Castillo and wife Alea Kelleher embrace while sifting through the remains of their Santa Rosa home on Oct. 10, 2017.

Gabriel Castillo and wife Alea Kelleher embrace while sifting through the remains of their Santa Rosa home on Oct. 10, 2017.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

Some insurers giving fire victims wrong information, official says

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Some insurance companies are giving Wine Country fire victims inaccurate information about their rights under state law, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in a press conference Monday.

More by Kathleen Pender

On Oct. 13, Jones declared an emergency situation in California, which allowed insurance companies to bring in out-of-state adjusters to handle fire claims. Some misinformation given to policyholders might be coming from adjusters who are not familiar with state law.

For example, some wildfire victims have been told they can only receive additional living expenses, such as rent on a temporary home, for up to 12 months. Under California law, when there has been a state of emergency, they have up to 24 months or whenever their dollar limit for additional living expenses runs out, whichever comes first.

Some have been advised that if they decide not to rebuild in the same location, they cannot receive their full replacement-cost benefits. In California, policyholders can rebuild in the same location, a new location or purchase an existing home in another location and receive full replacement cost, up to their policy limit for the dwelling.

Some have been told they have only six to 12 months to collect the full replacement cost on their dwelling. For claims resulting from a state of emergency, policyholders have no less than 24 months under California law.

California also has a law prohibiting insurers from refusing to renew a policy on a home that is being rebuilt. It requires them to renew a policy at least once if a total loss was caused by fire or other catastrophe.

The California Department of Insurance has helped about 1,400 people by phone or at the Local Assistance Center in Sonoma but has received only a handful of complaints, department spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid said. “The concern is nipping it in the bud now before it becomes a larger problem,” she said in an email.

Separately, the California Employment Development Department announced Monday that it is giving people whose work was affected by the wildfires until Dec. 18 to file for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance. The previous deadline was November 16.

This program gives people who do not qualify for regular state jobless benefits — including the self-employed — federally funded jobless benefits if their employment was impacted by a federally declared disaster.

Eligible workers in Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sonoma, and Yuba counties can get up to $450 a week for 26 weeks for losses starting the week of Oct. 15. Apply at "eApply4UI” or by calling (800) 300-5616. For more information, go to www.edd.ca.gov/About_EDD/pdf/nwsrel17-44.pdf.

EDD has received unemployment applications from 6,533 people in those eight counties who lost their jobs or had their hours cut as a result of the wildfires. Of those, 440 were not eligible for state unemployment benefits but may be eligible for federal ones. Most of the applications came from Sonoma County (4,487) and Napa (1,829). An additional 250 applications came from Solano County residents, who are not eligible for the federal program.